JACKSON TWP — The team concept doesn’t always fly in a sport like track and field.

But it is soaring this season at Seneca Valley.

The Raiders’ boys and girls teams advanced to Monday’s WPIAL Class AAA team championship meet with dominating efforts Tuesday afternoon at NexTier Stadium.

SV’s boys defeated New Castle (103-47), Chartiers Valley (99-51) and Knoch (116-34). The girls topped West Allegheny (114-36), Chartiers Valley (106-44) and Knoch (127-22).

The Raiders’ journey began long before the weather turned.

“You really can’t fit 180 kids into a locker room,” said SV boys and girls coach Ray Peaco, “so at the beginning of the season, we held our team meeting in the basement of the intermediate high school. I told the kids, ‘Look around you. These are your teammates and they have your back.’ Kids have to come together to win this thing and they’ve adopted the team idea.”

SV’s boys will be making their first appearance in the title meet since 2010 while the girls last competed there in 2008.

“Obviously, it’s a pleasant surprise anytime you get both your boys and girls team there, especially when there are so many competitive teams out there,” said Peaco. “In our section, there’s North Allegheny and Butler. Those teams come at you hard, but that has made us a better team.”

SV captured all three relays in the boys’ meet. Parker Laughlin contributed to the 400 and 1,600 win while Luke Bellack ran a leg of the 3,200 and 1,600 race. Alex Dixon was on the 1,600 foursome while also winning the 400 run with a personal-best time of 51.63 seconds.

“We knew we had a good team coming in (to the season) and that we were capable of a lot,” said Dixon. “Our focus was on beating the two teams at the top of the section, North Allegheny and Butler.”

While the Raiders dropped a heartbreaking 76-74 decision to NA in early April, they closed the month with a 93½-56½ defeat of the Golden Tornado, which landed them here in the team playoffs.

“That’s when we turned our attention toward getting to the championship meet,” added Dixon.

Sophomore Autumn Sutton contributed to three wins for SV’s girls — 100 and 200 dash and the 4x100 relay.

For Sutton, there is only one way to treat a meet as big as this.

“Full-speed,” she said. “I always go full speed.”

Like the boys team, SV’s girls had to settle for second place in the section after a loss to Butler. But they carried a potent lineup into Tuesday’s semifinal meet.

The lopsided scores reflected that.

“We felt pretty confident coming in here that if we did what we needed to do, we’d be fine,” said SV assistant coach Gar Bercury. “We didn’t want to look ahead. It was about focusing on the now.”

The WPIAL team championship meet will begin at 4 p.m. Monday at Baldwin High School.

Boys

Seneca Valley 103, New Castle 47

Seneca Valley 116, Knoch 34

Seneca Valley 99, Chartiers Valley 51

New Castle 83, Knoch 67

Chartiers Valley 97, Knoch 53

3,200 relay: Seneca Valley (Justin Gaydos, Luke Bellack, Sam Owori, Mike Kolor) 8:19.44; 110 hurdles: Ben Lowery (K) 16.6; 100 dash: New Castle 11.68; 1,600 run: Mike Kolor (SV) 4:31.8; 400 run: Alex Dixon (SV) 51.63; 400 relay: Seneca Valley (Anthony Buzzelli, Will Briscoe, Parker Laughlin, Mark Smith) 44.38; 300 hurdles: New Castle 40.97; 800 run: Mike Kolor (SV) 1:58.72; 200 dash: New Castle 23.45; 3,200 run: Chartiers Valley 9:56.58; 1,600 relay: Seneca Valley (Parker Laughlin, Jonathan Morgan, Luke Bellack, Alex Dixon) 3:30.67

Shot put: Jordan Geist (K) 61-0; Discus: Jordan Geist (K) 169-0; Javelin: Nate Kouns (SV) 156-7; High jump: Ben Bachik (SV) 5-8; Long jump: Chartiers Valley 20-0; Triple jump: Chartiers Valley 41-8; Pole vault: Alex Fischer (SV) 11-6

Girls

Seneca Valley 114, West Allegheny 36

Seneca Valley 127, Knoch 22

Seneca Valley 106, Chartiers Valley 44

West Allegheny 87, Knoch 62

Chartiers Valley 102, Knoch 47

3,200 relay: Seneca Valley (Isabelle Biase, Julie Milton, Jordan Kyle, Emma Lizewski) 10:03.41; 100 hurdles: Alex Smithco (SV) 16.49; 100 dash: Autumn Sutton (SV) 13.12; 1,600 run: Rachel Hensler (SV) 5:29.43; 400 run: West Allegheny 1:02.9; 400 relay: Seneca Valley (Ashley Rea, Sammy Stevwing, Madeline Neuschwander, Autumn Sutton) 51.08; 300 hurdles: Chartiers Valley 48.73; 800 run: West Allegheny 2:23.62; 200 dash: Autumn Sutton (SV) 26.76; 3,200 run: Abby Lizewski (SV) 12:20.58; 1,600 relay: Seneca Valley (Alex Smithco, Sammy Stevwing, Madeline Neuschwander, Emma Lizewski) 4:16.07

Shot put: Chartiers Valley 35-8; Discus: Toni Augustine (SV) 109-10.5; Javelin: Chartiers Valley 119-0; High jump: Rylie McCune (K) 4-10; Long jump: Chartiers Valley 16-5; Triple jump: Emma Lizewski (SV) 34-3; Pole vault: West Allegheny 8-6